Following its release in theaters earlier this year, an acclaimed Jason Statham movie has started streaming on Prime Video. Now available to watch on Amazon’s streaming platform, The Beekeeper was released in theaters on Jan. 12, going on to earn over $152 million worldwide.
The Beekeeper scored a 71% approval rating with critics on Rotten Tomatoes, but its audience score was notably much higher, sitting at 92%. That audience score set a record as a new high for director David Ayer. The film also proved to have one of the very best runs at the box office for a film that stars Statham in a solo lead role. While superhero movies have dominated Hollywood for many years, despite some box office misses more recently, Statham has been looking for success outside of the genre.
“I don’t have a big appetite for a costume, with cape and tights,” Statham said of why he doesn’t want to star in Marvel or DC movies, per Variety. “I like old school 80s movies. I was inspired by people like [Sylvester] Stallone and Arnold [Schwarzenegger]. And even before those guys, Steve McQueen, Paul Newman and [Clint] Eastwood. I just couldn’t see any of those guys putting on a cape, and a mask and going around on wires.”
The Beekeeper Escales Its Action, Jason Statham Says
On what makes The Beekeeper special, the actor added, “The whole movie escalates in terms of the action. And it goes through an incredible, great crescendo. The whole world [of the film] has a mythology of the ‘beekeeping’ world. If we were fortunate enough to make a sequel, we have a whole world that we can dive into.”
In the movie, per the official synopsis, “One man’s brutal campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as ‘Beekeepers.’”
Directed by David Ayer, The Beekeeper was written by Kur Wimmer. Statham produced with Ayer, Wimmer, Bill Block, and Chris Long. Along with Statham in the lead, the movie also stars Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Bobby Naderi, Phylicia Rasha, and Jeremy Irons.
Meanwhile, Statham is teaming back up with Ayer for his next project. He will star in Levon’s Trade, a new action thriller directed by Ayer with a screenplay by Sylvester Stallone, Statham’s Expendables franchise co-star. The film, which also stars David Harbour, will be released on Jan. 17, 2025.
The Beekeeper is streaming on Prime Video.